CTUIR to Build Transition Housing with Federal Funds

MISSION – The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation’s (CTUIR) Housing Department is looking to create transition housing along Mission Road thanks to federal funding.

Housing Director Marcus Luke said the CTUIR has approximately $820,000 in U.S. Housing and Urban Development-American Rescue Plan Act funds to provide such housing.

He said planning will begin in December with development starting afterward. GCT Land Management in La Grande will serve as the project’s contractor. A finish date of Dec. 31, 2025, is expected because Housing has until that date to spend the funds.

“We have already done water and sewer hook-ups, and electric is on site,” Luke said. “If we have enough funds, hopefully we can add solar panels to each unit and other green products.”

Although their sizes are yet to been determined, three cottage-style units are expected to be constructed upon a half-acre lot located on trust land at 46390 Mission Road near Mission Market.

“This is for whomever applies at Housing and is waiting for a unit or existing unit work for maintenance,” Luke said. “They must be qualified and approved by all the requirements already, and transition housing would be the next step after being approved.”

He said when tenants put their 30-to-60-day notices at their current residences, they can transfer to a transition house until they are ready to rent again.

“The other use is when we modernize a unit, tenants usually need a place to live temporarily until their unit is complete,” Luke said. “Modernizing includes installing new flooring, kitchen/bathroom floor, taking out old carpet, heat system etc. Then they can utilize one of these units, too.”

He added that the program isn’t new, and it makes it more convenient on the tenants and Housing staff to have tenants use transition housing.

“We’ve needed this for years,” he said. “We would get complaints of people living in their truck/cars, overcrowded mutual help home, staying in a motel, with friends, people feeling homeless and helpless.”

The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation is comprised of the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla Tribes, and formed under the Treaty of 1855 at the Walla Walla Valley, 12 Stat. 945. In 1949, the Tribes adopted a constitutional form of government to protect, preserve and enhance the reserved treaty rights guaranteed under federal law.

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